My name is Ahmad and I´m fourteen years old. I was born into a Muslim family with not enough resources for education.

Since we moved to Europe from Nigeria, my dream and my sister´s had always been going to school like all the children of our neighbourhood.

We decided to seek the help of an NGO in our community, who finally found a way to sponsor just my education and upbringing.

This NGO secured me a place in a Christian institution in Europe. This was the beginning of my nightmare.

My name, dressing and first introduction in the classroom, everyone could notice I was not Christian. I realised that something was wrong, and the exclusion began.

I was faced with the problem of not being able to pray using my “Misbaha” as well as follow my normal prayer routines and gestures.

But one day, something happened that started to change their behaviour towards me.

Our teacher asked us to do an assignment about Human Rights, what made my classmates realise the consequences of the way they were treating me.

Reflecting on this issue, our school promoted talks and conferences, and established new rules which govern Human rights and social justice.

Inclusiveness, empathy, respect, equality, tolerance are some of the principles that are being followed now.

PIEC Fall 2018